World Cup memorabilia can make thousands if you buy wisely. Here we explain
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World Cup fever has gripped the nation, and over the next month or so England will attempt to bring the famous trophy back home to end a 48-year wait.

If previous tournaments are a guide, England’s bid for glory is likely to end with a penalty shoot-out in the quarter finals. Yet if this scenario does play out, there is a silver lining.

In a roundabout way, collectors of memorabilia will benefit if England fail to build on their solitary World Cup success.

The market for souvenirs from England’s solitary World Cup win in 1966 is already booming, with football fans and collectors paying large premiums for almost any item. Since the turn of the millennium there have been some giant sales. Sir Geoff Hurst, hat-trick hero against Germany 48 years ago, sold his England shirt for £91,750 in June 2000, while a World Cup winners’ medal belonging to Nobby Stiles fetched £184,000 at an auction in 2010.

And the profits are not restricted to these rarest of items. Ticket stubs from the 1966 World Cup final typically sell between £100 to £250; quite simply, fans love to own a little piece of footballing history.

According to auctioneers, the longer England’s disappointing record at World Cup finals lasts, the higher memorabilia prices are driven. That means a disappointing return for Roy Hodgson’s men this year might boost prices further.

Mark Woodhead, auctioneer at trader Spirit of Sport, said: “Without doubt the bestselling World Cup items are anything that relates to 1966. England have only won the World Cup once, so everyone wants to buy items of memorabilia and are willing to pay a premium for the goods. The longer the wait for another success, the higher memorabilia prices will go over time.”

So which items of World Cup memorabilia gathering dust in lofts could turn the largest profits?

Shirts

Kit worn by a World Cup-winning player was the bestselling item of memorabilia, the experts said.

The record amount paid for a football shirt, belonging to Pele, regarded by some as the best footballer of all time, was set in 2002; a shirt he wore in the 1970 World Cup final for Brazil went for £157,750.

Replica shirts typically sell for around £750. Mr Woodhead said prices varied depending on the player and whether the shirt was signed by the entire team.

“An England shirt signed by the whole squad of 1966 will be valued high at, say, £1,500 because some of the players have sadly passed away. However, a shirt worn by someone who was not a household name rarely sells well – so it is probably not worth buying as an investment,” he said.

Football shirts can make a great investment in the right auction. Last month a shirt worn by Just Fontaine, the French footballer who holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup (13 in 1958), went for £25,000. “This was well above the £4,000 asking price,” Mr Woodhead said.

Programmes

Another popular piece of memorabilia that nets collectors big returns is a match-day programme from a big World Cup game.

Dave Alexander, 46, who runs football memorabilia website Football Wanted, has made substantial returns buying and selling programmes at auctions.

“I collected all of the programmes for each game in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden and when I sold the whole lot, I a made a couple of thousand pounds profit,” he said.

Programmes and mascots are other big sellers

Mr Alexander, whose prized item is a Bobby Moore tracksuit worn in the 1966 finals (pictured), also made a profit selling a World Cup match report from 1966, which had been signed by the entire England squad and manager Sir Alf Ramsey.

“I bought it for £800 and it went for £1,550,” Mr Alexander said. “Obviously you can make money, but as a football fan I find it hard to let go of certain items.”

Similar tracksuits – a total of eight were worn by Mr Moore during the tournament – are valued at around £2,000 to £3,000 on various online auction websites.

Cuddly toys and miscellaneous

Chances are many of those who had one will probably have thrown out the 1996 mascot teddy – World Cup Willie. But anyone who kept it safe could make £100 selling today. That is not a bad return considering the toy originally cost around £1 in today’s money.

Anyone who kept Willie safe could make £100

World Cup Willie ashtrays also sell for £100, as do ice buckets, shaped in the form of a football. Any type of Willie merchandise is worth something. Pens and postcards are valued from £30 to £50.

Low-value merchandise

It will come as a blow to many, but World Cup sticker albums rarely have much of a sell-on value. If you are an avid sticker fan, you probably will end up making a loss if you try to sell.

“The sticker albums are pretty worthless to be honest,” said Mr Alexander. “The cost of the stickers to complete the album will be over and above any future sale. A complete album for Argentina 1978 is worth £100, but there is less demand for other completed albums, so the prices are lower.”